author
Richard M. (Richard Milhous) Nixon
1913–1994
A complicated and deeply influential figure in American history, he rose from modest beginnings in California to the presidency, helped reshape relations with China and the Soviet Union, and left office in the shadow of Watergate. His life story spans ambition, political reinvention, dramatic success, and one of the most consequential downfalls in U.S. politics.
1 Audiobook
State of the Union Addresses
by Richard M. (Richard Milhous) Nixon
About the author
Born in Yorba Linda, California, in 1913, Richard Milhous Nixon grew up in a Quaker family and studied at Whittier College and Duke Law School before entering law and then public life. He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, won election to Congress in 1946, and quickly became a national political figure.
Nixon went on to serve as a U.S. senator from California and then as vice president under Dwight D. Eisenhower from 1953 to 1961. Elected the 37th president of the United States in 1968 and reelected in 1972, he is closely associated with opening relations with the People's Republic of China and pursuing détente with the Soviet Union, while also presiding over the winding down of direct U.S. combat involvement in Vietnam.
His presidency is inseparable from the Watergate scandal, which led to his resignation in 1974, making him the only U.S. president to leave office in that way. Afterward, he spent years writing books and commenting on foreign affairs, remaining a major, if controversial, presence in American public life until his death in 1994.